THE  EDUCATIONAL  AND 
PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF  THE 
STUDY    OF   SHORTHAND 


By  RUPERT  P.  SORELLE 


A 

0 
0 

0 

6 

,A 

3 

^=^=    ( 

U 
3 

■1 



S7I 


GREGG  EDUCATIONAL  MONOGRAPHS 


This  book  is  DUF    t   the  last  -^ 


le 


Th« 

Educational   and    Practical 

Value  of  the  Study  of 

Shorthand 

BY  J^-^ 

RUPERT  P.  SORELLE 

VICE-PRESIDEKT  OF 
THE  GUEGG   PUBLISHING  COMPAUT  .      ,   ^    ' 


SOUTHERN  BRANCl 

tVERsmr  OF  CAureRNi. 

LIBRARY 

OS   ANGEL."' 

4  7 1 0  8 

THE  GREGG  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

NEW  YORE       CHICAGO       BOSTON       SAN  FBANCISCO       LONDON 


COPYRIGHT,    I921,    BY 
THE    GKEGG    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 


^I/J 


ST( 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  AND 

PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF 

THE  STUDY  OF 

SHORTHAND 

The  intensely  practical  value  of  short- 
hand in  the  work  of  the  world  has  so 
completely  overshadowed  its  educa- 
tional value  that  the  latter  is  rarely 
considered  when  the  question  of  its 
addition  to  the  curriculum  of  the  school 
or  college  arises. 

Indeed,  shorthand  is  commonly 
looked  upon  as  a  mechanical  art  — 
something  that  may  be  picked  up  by 
almost  anyone  in  a  few  weeks'  study. 
It  is  this  view  of  the  subject  that  is 
responsible  for  many  of  the  shorthand 
failures. 

That  shorthand  has  a  great  educa- 
tional value  I  believe  is  realized  by  all 
who  have  investigated  the  art  or  who 


2     Educational  and  Practical  Value 

are  at  all  conversant  with  it.  Con- 
sider for  a  moment  the  processes  through 
which  the  shorthand  writer  goes  in  re- 
porting and  transcribing  a  speech. 

First,  there  is  the  hearing  and  the 
comprehension  of  the  words,  and  the 
grasping  of  the  thought  of  the  speaker; 
second,  the  translation  of  these  words 
into  sounds  (I  believe  we  commonly 
think  of  words  in  their  written  or 
printed  form);  third,  the  selection  of 
the  shorthand  material  from  which  they 
are  to  be  constructed  into  tangible  form; 
fourth,  the  transferring  of  these  im- 
pressions to  the  fingers;  fifth,  the 
manual  execution  of  the  forms.  Here 
are  five  distinct  processes  through  which 
each  word  must  be  put  in  the  smallest 
fraction  of  a  second. 

To  add  still  further  to  the  complexity 
of  the  problem,  the  writer  must  follow 
closely  the  sense  of  the  matter  being 
spoken^  or  it  will  be  impossible  for  him 
to   make   an   intelligent   transcript.      I 


of  the  Study  of  Shorthand  3 

think  you  will  agree  with  me  that  this 
is  a  form  of  mental  discipHne  —  com- 
bined with  manual  execution  —  which 
has  a  value  that  is  worthy  of  the  con- 
sideration of  thoughtful  teachers. 

The  transcribing,  or  writing  the 
shorthand  notes  on  the  typewriter,  is 
another  phase  of  the  work  that  has  an 
important  educational  advantage,  train- 
ing as  it  does  the  judgment,  the  powers 
of  perception  and  analyzation,  and  de- 
veloping what  has  been  well  termed  a 
"logical  imagination."  The  reader  of 
shorthand  must  analyze  the  shorthand 
symbols,  give  them  their  sound  values, 
combine  the  sounds  into  words,  grasp 
the  significance  of  phrase  signs,  and 
translate  the  whole  into  English  sen- 
tences. In  other  words,  the  practice  of 
shorthand  writing  develops  such  intel- 
lectual qualities  as  were  possessed  by 
men  like  Kelvin  —  the  "constructive 
scientific  imagination  which  bodies  forth 
the  forms  of  things  unknown  with  such 


4     Educational  and  Practical  Value 

definition  and  precision  that  the  me- 
chanical faculties  work  up  to  the  con- 
ception as  to  a  visible  model." 

Of  course,  it  will  be  understood  that 
after  a  while  a  large  part  of  this  selec- 
tion of  material  and  the  discrimination 
in  the  use  of  it  becomes  virtually  auto- 
matic; yet  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  at  one  time  it  was  conscious  and 
hence  had  a  deep  educational  signifi- 
cance. All  of  these  fundamental  proc- 
esses in  writing  were  at  the  beginning 
necessarily  slow  and  deliberate.  The 
speed  in  execution  increased  only  as  the 
capacity  to  handle  the  material  with 
speed  developed.  Nevertheless,  they 
possessed  the  highest  disciphnary  value 
and  continue  to  possess  it.  The  short- 
hand writer  never  reaches  the  point 
where  his  work  is  completely  automatic. 
He  always  has  new  words  and  new  com- 
binations of  words  to  deal  with. 

To  illustrate  in  a  concrete,  untech- 
nical  way,   one  of  the   difficulties:    If 


of  the  Study  of  Shorthand  5 

you  had  dictated  to  you  an  editorial 
from  a  newspaper,  or  an  article  from 
a  magazine,  and  wrote  it  hurriedly  — 
that  is,  at  the  top  of  your  longhand 
speed  —  using  the  common  abbrevia- 
tions, dropping  the  terminations  and 
the  past  tense  of  words,  omitting  all 
punctuation  marks  and  capital  letters, 
and  were  then  called  upon  to  make  a 
correct  transcript  of  your  notes  thus 
taken,  it  would  require  some  clear 
thinking  and  the  exercise  of  much  judg- 
ment to  reproduce  the  thought  and  lan- 
guage with  fidelity. 

Yet  the  stenographer  does  this  and  a 
great  deal  more.  It  is  far  more  difficult 
to  make  such  a  transcript  from  the 
shorthand  notes  for  these  reasons:  The 
actual  physical  representation  of  words 
in  shorthand  is  very  greatly  lessened, 
as  compared  with  longhand,  as  each 
character  when  correctly  executed  has 
a  much  greater  power  of  expression  j 
the   abbreviations   are   more   numerous 


6     Educational  and  Practical  Value 

and  the  chances  for  error  in  form  are 
multiplied  under  stress  of  rapid  writing, 
making  the  identity  of  the  character 
less  positive.  All  these  present  prob- 
lems, in  transcribing,  that  develop  per- 
ception, alertness,  quickness  of  thought, 
resourcefulness,  discrimination,  and 
judgment  to  the  highest  degree.  The 
problem  is  comparable  to  that  of  hear- 
ing a  discourse  in  French  or  German 
and  translating  it  instantly  into  English. 
Let  us  compare  the  study  of  short- 
hand with  that  of  one  of  our  required 
high  school  subjects  —  a  foreign  lan- 
guage —  French,  German,  or  Latin. 
The  student  of  a  language  first  takes 
up  the  elementary  sounds — the  vowels 
and  the  consonants.  These  are  com- 
bined into  words;  he  acquires  a  vocab- 
ulary by  memorizing.  Next  the  forma- 
tion of  sentences  engages  his  attention, 
and,  finally,  proceeding  from  the  simple 
to  the  complex,  the  more  difficult 
matters    of    grammatical    construction 


of  the  Study  of  Shorthand  7 

and  composition  are  considered,  and 
actual  translation  is  undertaken.  All 
of  these  processes  are  paralleled  in  the 
study  of  shorthand.  The  student  learns 
the  elementary  characters  of  the  art  — 
the  vowels  and  consonants  —  and  is 
drilled  on  the  sounds.  He  gets  a  new 
conception  of  words,  and  gains  some 
valuable  experience  in  correct  pronun- 
ciation. He  is  used  to  thinking  of  a 
word  in  its  printed  form;  but  in  his 
shorthand  work  he  must  become  accus- 
tomed not  only  to  this  form,  but  also 
to  the  sounds  of  which  it  is  composed. 
The  sounds  have  their  shorthand  equiva- 
lents, composed  of  curves,  both  long 
and  short,  and  circles.  These  are  com- 
bined into  words.  The  grouping  of 
words  into  phrases  —  that  is,  a  series  of 
words  that  may  be  expressed  by  a 
single  shorthand  character  or  "outline" 
—  is  the  next  step.  Finally  the  whole 
sentence  is  written.  In  transcribing, 
the  process  is  reversed.    Hence  it  may 


8     Educational  and  Practical  Value 

be  seen  how  perfectly,  in  the  study  of 
shorthand,  synthesis  is  correlated  with 
analysis. 

A  brief  comparison  with  geometry,  a 
study  highly  valued  by  educators  for 
its  disciplinary  effect  upon  the  mind, 
might  also  prove  of  interest. 

Geometry  is  pre-eminently  a  study 
that  develops  the  analytical  powers  of 
the  mind  —  clear,  logical  reasoning.  It 
has  a  distinct  value  also  in  inculcating 
habits  of  preciseness,  neatness,  order, 
and  truthfulness.  The  same  advantage 
may  be  claimed  for  shorthand.  The 
shorthand  writer  is  constantly  analyz- 
ing; and  his  decisions  must  be  reached 
and  appHed  instantly.  In  taking  his 
notes,  neatness  and  accuracy,  which 
practically  form  the  basis  of  their 
legibility,  must  be  kept  constantly  in 
mind.  In  transcribing  the  shorthand, 
correct  form  and  the  most  attractive 
arrangement,  as  well  as  the  absolute  ac- 
curacy of  his  work,  demand  his  attention. 


of  the  Study  of  Shorthand  9 

Every  stenographer  worthy  of  the 
name  has  an  ambition  to  make  his 
work  accurate;  if  it  is  not  accurate  it 
has  no  commercial  value.  He  under- 
stands this  from  the  beginning;  and 
consequently  his  constant  aim  is  for 
accuracy  —  which  stenographically  is  a 
synonym  for  truthfulness.  Shorthand 
does  more  than  geometry  in  respect  to 
clear,  logical  thinking  —  for  it  adds 
speed  to  it. 

Educators  will  concede,  I  believe, 
that   the   process  of  shorthand  writing 

—  if  my  statement  of  it  has  been  correct 

—  is  a  pure  application  of  the  funda- 
mental movement  of  mind,  which  is  to 
grasp  a  thing  as  an  indiscriminate  whole, 
analyze  it  into  its  parts,  and  to  correlate 
these  parts  in  relation  to  the  whole. 

Thus  far,  I  have  considered  princi- 
pally the  disciplinary  value  of  the  art. 
The  advantages  of  a  study  of  shorthand 
are  threefold:  First,  the  mental  dis- 
cipline secured  in  the  mastery  and  the 


lo   Educational  and  Practical  Value 

application  of  its  principles;  second,  the 
educational  value  of  the  writing  and 
re-writing  of  the  matter  taken  in  short- 
hand; third,  its  practical  or  commercial 
value. 
-y  The  close  affiliation  of  shorthand 
with  language  gives  to  it,  I  think,  one 
of  its  greatest  educational  advantages. 
Nothing  can  so  familiarize  one  with 
the  wonders  and  beauties  of  the  Eng- 
lish language  as  does  the  constant 
practice  of  shorthand.  It  compels  a 
study  of  the  grammatical  and  rhetori- 
cal phases  of  language  and  gives  an 
acquaintance  with  the  details  of  it  that 
could  hardly  be  so  easily  acquired  in 
any  other  way.  It  is  to  the  student  of 
English  what  a  course  in  dissection  is 
to  the  medical  student  —  but  it  goes 
still  further,  because  the  shorthand 
writer  njust  reconstruct  from  the  pieces 
the  thing  he  has  torn  apart.  As  has 
been  said,  his  work  is  synthetic  as  well 
as    analytic.      Some   striking   instances 


of  the  Study  of  Shorthand  II 

have  been  noted  of  the  value  of  short- 
hand as  an  aid  in  teaching  a  foreigner 
the  EngHsh  language  —  in  acquiring 
correct  pronunciation,  in  mastering  the 
intricacies  of  construction. 

The  shorthand  writer  in  his  work 
as  reporter,  private  secretary,  stenog- 
rapher to  professional,  literary,  or  busi- 
ness men,  is  constantly  brought  in 
contact  with  what  is  brightest  and  best 
—  where  brains  are  the  busiest.  He  is 
constantly  writing  the  cultivated  dic- 
tion of  eminent  speakers,  writing  out 
the  thoughts  of  great  educators  and 
public  men,  and  putting  on  paper  the 
plans  and  purposes  of  the  busy  captains 
of  industry.  And  what  is  more,  he  gets 
ideas  first  hand  —  hot  from  the  forge. 
He  is  thus  enabled  to  study,  to  absorb, 
to  compare,  to  criticize,  to  enjoy,  to 
broaden  his  general  information,  to  see 
the  reason  behind  the  decision,  to 
familiarize  himself  with  the  work  of 
the  world. 


12  Educational  and  Practical  Value 

But  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  that  this 
valuable  training  be  left  until  the  short- 
hand student  is  an  adept  in  the  art  — 
a  training  which  is  so  often  looked  upon 
as  a  mere  by-product,  but  which  is  in 
itself  sufficient  reward  for  the  study  of 
shorthand.  In  most  of  the  high  schools 
where  shorthand  is  taught,  the  dictation 
course  preparatory  for  practical  work 
is  made  an  important  feature.  It  gen- 
erally.  covers  not  only  a  drill  in  com- 
mercial work,  such  work  as  ninety-nine 
out  of  a  hundred  students  engage  in, 
but  also  a  great  variety  of  other  sub- 
jects —  technical,  educational,  scien- 
tific, legal  and  literary.  This  work  is 
intended  primarily  to  give  the  student 
facility  in  handling  all  classes  of  steno- 
graphic work,  but  as  he  goes  over  this 
matter  at  least  twice  —  in  taking  it  in 
shorthand  and  in  typewriting  it  —  and 
oftentimes  a  third  time  in  revising  and 
in  comparing  it  with  the  original,  he 
naturally    absorbs    a    vast    amount    of 


of  the  Study  of  Shorthand         13 

useful  information  and  gets  a  most 
practical  drill  in  the  use  of  the  English 
language. 

/^believe  that  the  study  of  shorthand 
could  be  begun  profitably  much  earlier 
than  in  the  high  school  —  perhaps  in 
the  seventh  or  eighth  grade  —  so  that 
by  the  time  the  student  reached  the 
high  school  he  would  have  mastered 
the  mechanics  of  the  art  to  such  an 
extent  that  he  could  make  practical 
use  of  his  shorthand  every  day  in  his 
high  school  and  college  courses  in  mak- 
ing notes  and  taking  the  numerous 
valuable  extemporaneous  talks  of 
teachers  that  are  commonly  lost.  The 
principal  objection  in  offering  the  work 
so  early,  however,  would  lie  in  the  fact 
that  many  students,  learning  that  their 
work  had  a  commercial  value,  would 
leave  school  before  obtaining  the  broad 
general  education  necessary  to  the  high- 
est success.  This  objection  to  taking 
up    the    work    so    early    is    minimized 


14  Educational  and  Practical  Value 

largely  by  the  fact  that  the  demand 
today  is  for  the  stenographer  who  has 
a  high  school  or  college  education. 
Business  men  are  more  critical  than 
ever  before  and  are  wiUing  to  pay  for 
knowledge  in  addition  to  technical  skill. 
The  practical  uses  of  shorthand  are 
so  varied  and  so  well  understood  by 
most  of  us  that  little  need  be  said  of 
them.  Shorthand  is  an  indispensable 
art  in  commerce,  as  is  attested  by  the 
fact  that  hundreds  of  thousands  are 
employed  as  stenographers.  Business 
men  do  not  waste  money  on  useless 
employes.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  short- 
hand has  been  one  of  the  greatest  fac- 
tors in  the  expansion  of  American  com- 
merce, for  through  its  aid,  as  a  means  in 
correspondence,  the  enterprising  Amer- 
ican business  man  gets  business  wher- 
ever the  United  States  mail  reaches.  In 
the  courts  and  in  the  legislative  halls 
of  the  state  and  national  governments, 
the  shorthand  reporter  makes  possible 


of  the  Study  of  Shorthand         15 

an  absolute  record  of  the  proceedings, 
catching  and  recording  every  word  — 
words  oftentimes  fraught  with  the  great- 
est import.  The  thoughts  of  statesmen, 
great  teachers,  and  lawmakers  are 
reported  verbatim  and  preserved  for 
the  use  of  the  world.  Its  value  to  the 
college  student  is  great.  In  taking 
lectures,  briefing,  collateral  reading, 
keeping  notebooks,  and  in  many  other 
ways,  it  affords  him  a  reliable  and  time- 
saving  instrument.  Its  use  prevents 
the  longhand  from  degenerating  into  a 
scrawl. 

To  the  young  man  or  to  the  young '^ 
woman,  shorthand  offers  a  great  oppor- 
tunity either  as  a  career  or  as  a  stepping- 
stone.  Many  of  our  most  prominent 
public  men  and  women  —  business  ex- 
ecutives, transportation  experts,  lawyers, 
judges,  bankers,  litterateurs^  journal- 
ists —  owe  their  positions  to  the  start 
shorthand  gave  them.  Among  these 
—  to  mention  only  a  few  —  are  Frank 


l6  Educational  and  Practical  Value 

Vanderlip,  Charles  Dickens,  Arnold 
Bennett,  Edward  Bok,  Norman  Hap- 
good,  Irvin  Cobb,  Dr.  A.  E.  Winship, 
George  B.  Cortelyou,  ^yilliam  Loeb, 
Jr.,  Judge  Landis,  Hugh  Chalmers, 
Judge  Charles  L.  Guy,  Samuel  InsuU, 
Colonel  Bope,  Talcott  Williams,  Judge 
Rhea  Whitehead,  Zelda  Sears,  Mabel 
Urner,  Alba  Johnson. 

The  spread  of  the  popularity  of  short- 
hand in  our  high  schools  is,  I  think,  not 
only  a  recognition  of  its  great  utili- 
tarian advantages,  but  also  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  coming  to  be  recognized  as 
having  a  very  important  educational 
value  as  well. 


f  Editorial  Note] 

CAN  SHORTHAND  BE  INTRO- 
DUCED PROFITABLY  IN 
THE    GRAMMAR 
GRADES  ? 

This  is  an  increasingly  important 
question.  The  address  presented  in 
this  monograph  throws  much  Hght  upon 
it.  Although  prepared  by  Mr.  SoRelle 
several  years  ago,  it  gives  so  clear  and 
accurate  a  statement  of  the  educa- 
tional value  of  the  study  and  practice  of 
shorthand  that  it  has  come  to  be  looked 
upon  as  a  classic  in  shorthand  literature. 

The  ideas  presented  are  of  especial 
interest  at  this  time  when  the  attention 
of  teachers  and  school  supervisors  all 
over  the  country  is  being  directed 
toward  placing  shorthand  in  the  course 
of  study  for  grammar  schools.  Short- 
hand is  now  being  recognized  as  not 
17 


l8  Editorial  Note 

only  of  very  great  utility,  but  also  as 
possessing  marked  educational  value. 
Furthermore,  educators  of  today  realize 
more  and  more  that  subjects  requiring 
manual  skill  should  be  introduced  early. 
What  Mr.  SoRelle  ventured  as  a  sug- 
gestion has  come  to  be  accepted  as  a 
fact  —  that  shorthand  can  be  studied 
with  great  profit  in  the  first  years  of 
high  school  and  even  in  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades.  Many  cities  have 
introduced  shorthand  with  success  in 
the  grammar  grades  for  its  educational 
and  practical  value,  not  with  the  idea 
of  training  professional  stenographers, 
but  to  give  students  the  benefit  of  a 
practical  use  of  shorthand. 

4  T  i.  0  8 


GREGG    EDUCATIONAL    MONOGRAPHS 

A  series  of  monographs  dealing  with  definite  phases 
of  education,  shorthand,  and  commercial  training.  The 
following  titles  are  now  available: 

MAKING  SHORTHAND  TEACHING  EFFECTIVE. 
By  John  Robert  Gregg.  Mr.  Gregg  discusses  some 
new  tendencies  in  methods  of  teaching  shorthand 
of  great  value  to  teachers.  24  pages;  bound  in  heavy 
art  paper  covers 20  cents  net 

HANDWRITING  EFFICIENCY  IN  JUNIOR  AND 
SENIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS.  By  J.  N.  Snesrud. 
The  relation  of  longhand  to  shorthand  and  how  a 
development  of  shorthand  skill  early  in  the  course 
leads  to  far  more  effective  results  in  all  the  in- 
dividual's education  are  ably  discussed  by  Mr. 
Snesrud.  58  pages;  bound  in  heavy  art  paper 
covers 30  cents  net 

TYPEWRITING  THROUGH  RHYTHMICAL  CON- 
TROL. By  A.  B.  Crosier.  Mr.  Crosier  presents 
a  new  idea  in  the  acquirement  of  skill  in  typewriting. 
36  pages;  bound  in  heavy  paper  covers,  20  cents  net 

THE  FOURTEEN  POINTS  IN  SHORTHAND 
TEACHING.  By  Hubert  A.  Hagar.  The  essentials 
of  technique  in  teaching  shorthand  are  effectively 
presented  and  applied.  28  pages;  bound  in  heavy 
art  paper  covers 20  cents  net 

OBSTACLES  TO  THE  ATTAINMENT  OF  SPEED 
IN  SHORTHAND.  Two  papers,  one  by  Frederick 
R.  Beygrau,  dealing  with  the  Mental  Obstacles;  the 
other,  by  H.  H.  Amston,  dealing  with  the  Manual 
Obstacles.  The  sticking  points  in  the  acquirement 
of  shorthand  speed  are  treated  exhaustively  from 
two  angles.  48  pages;  bound  in  heavy  art  paper 
covers 25  cents  net 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  AND  PRACTICAL  VALUE  OF 
THE  STUDY  OF  SHORTHAND.  By  Rupert  P. 
SoRelle.  Mr.  SoRelle  analyzes  the  processes  of 
learning  shorthand  and  how  they  affect  the  student's 
educational  development  and  lead  to  practical  ap- 
plication. 28  pages ;  bound  in  heavy  art  paper 
covers 20  cents  net 

Other  Titles  in  Preparation 

Prices  subject  to  change  without  notice 

THE  GREGG  PUBLISHING  CX)MPANY 

MrW   YORK  CHICAGO  BOSTON  SAN    FRANCISCO  LONDON 


TMs  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


T^OV  2 


\ 


CS3 


